Happy Ash Valentine’s Wednesday!
Happy Ash Valentine’s Wednesday!
That’s a weird thing to say, isn’t it? The last time we had this holy day/holiday mash-up was in 2018. Before that, it was 1923, 1934 and 1945! It will occur again in 2029 and then not again in this century.
So it’s a rare occasion that we get to consider love in a fuller sense on this Ash Valentine’s Wednesday. It would seem that the two days have very little in common with each other. Valentine’s Day is pink candy, red hearts, and cupids. Ash Wednesday is ashes, dust, and purple. The whole overall tone of the days is quite different. Valentine’s Day is warm and sweet. Ash Wednesday is pensive and serious. The two days have nothing in common.
Or do they?
Valentine’s Day is about romantic love – imperfect and faltering though it may be. It’s a day when we express affection for those near and dear to us.
Ash Wednesday is about the divine love of God. A perfect and unconditional love. Love that is steadfast and unwavering. A love with which God loved us so much that Jesus was sent to the world so that we might witness a love so great that it lays down its life for its friends. Love that reconciles us and calls us to repentance despite our rebelliousness.
Where is the connection?
1 John 4:19
We love because God first loved us
That’s right… because God showed us love, we have some inkling of how to love one another. God’s love is so true, so steadfast, so faithful even we are faithless. It never gives up, never runs out.
Truth be told, sometimes we have to consciously choose that kind of love. It isn’t always work to love someone, although sometimes it is. But we have experienced the limitless love of God and so we know how to love someone else with that kind of love, albeit sometimes imperfectly. Thanks be to God for a love like that.
So on Ash Valentine’s Wednesday, we can celebrate and express love for those near and dear to us. And we can wear the sign of the cross in ash on our foreheads and reflect on God’s love which redeems and reconciles us.
My friend Mark Davis, pastor at St. Mark Presbyterian Church, wrote a poem for this holy day/holiday mash-up and I really liked it. He said it was ok for me to share it with you.
When once there was ash,
This year there’s a mash
Of love that is sent
And hearts that repent
When once there’s a smudge
This year there’s some fudge
There’s a lover that falls
And the Savior that calls
When once it was dour
This year there are flowers
The cross Christ imposes
And the vase full of roses
When once it was serious
This year seems delirious
Black ash on the head
With garments of red
When once it was focused
This year’s hocus-pocused
Reserving a dinner
Redeeming a sinner
Ashes to Ashes
Dust to Lust
One love calls for fasting
The other repasting
Praying For You
Pastor Leanne
Community Presbyterian Church
32202 Del Obispo
San Juan Capistrano. CA 92675
949-493-1502